Personnel from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry with the help of police have arrested two men – a Bangladeshi and a Nepali – for storing and selling subsidized foodstuffs meant for Kuwaitis after changing the original packing, reports Al-Qabas daily.

A security source when police received a tip about the suspects and their activities, plainclothesmen raided a store, arrested the two men and seized from them 42 large sacks of sugar, 678 milk cans, 480 bottles of oil, 32 sacks of rice (50 kg each), and sewing machines which they used to repack the goods.

The contraband and the two suspects have been referred to the authorities. Meanwhile, the Public Relations Department at Kuwait Municipality has announced that about five tons of spoilt foodstuff were destroyed in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Governorate in August.

In a press statement, the department said this came after the Inspection and Control Department in the Municipality’s branch in the governorate carried out a series of inspection campaigns. According to the department, these campaigns resulted in the issuance of 25 citations and confiscation of 1,620 kilograms of spoilt foodstuff, together with 60 kilograms of expired foodstuff from cooperative societies and supermarkets.

The department also confirmed that intensified inspection campaigns were launched in Subhan and Qurain markets, leading to the confiscation of 184 kilograms of processed food, issuance of 99 citations, and disposal of about three tons and 770 kilograms of expired food products, while 327 food samples were submitted to the laboratory for further testing in order to check the quality of the items. The campaigns also resulted in the removal of 225 advertisements which were found to be in violation of rules and regulations.